17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, 1
the eyes of his children will fail.
21:10 Their bulls 2 breed 3 without fail; 4
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
1 tn Heb “for a portion.” This verse is rather obscure. The words are not that difficult, but the sense of them in this context is. Some take the idea to mean “he denounces his friends for a portion,” and others have a totally different idea of “he invites his friends to share with him.” The former fits the context better, indicating that Job’s friends speak out against him for some personal gain. The second half of the verse then promises that his children will suffer loss for this attempt at gain. The line is surely proverbial. A number of other interpretations can be found in the commentaries.
2 tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.
3 tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).
4 tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).